MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 1085: A Favor
Previously on MIGHT AS WELL BE OP...
While Anthony pondered the Domains he intended to explore, a Vampire among Tiara’s bodyguards materialized atop the aircraft, striding toward them with deliberate steps. Everyone’s attention snapped to him, puzzled by his advance, fully aware that the man would never draw near without cause or intent.
Yet simultaneously, a notion arose in their minds—could he be delivering a message from Blood Queen Elara Bloodmoon?—and yes, their hunch proved spot on.
"I greet God Anthony and Lady Tiara," the bodyguard declared with a bow, dropping to one knee in salute to only Anthony and Tiara, utterly disregarding Bryan and the Storm Brothers, which made sense since they weren’t of his kind. Had Anthony been less powerful, the bodyguard would have overlooked him just as easily without a second thought.
"What do you want?" Tiara demanded bluntly, already irritated by the bodyguard’s very presence. To her, these figures were mere spies dispatched by the Blood Queen and her son to watch her every action and relay it back faithfully.
"The Blood Queen instructed me to deliver a message," the Vampire responded, head lowered, avoiding Tiara’s eyes or anyone else’s, holding a posture of deference mixed with detachment.
"Speak," Tiara commanded sharply, her voice icy and inhospitable.
"The Blood Queen mentioned she tried calling you, but it didn’t connect. I told her afterward that you’d ventured into outer space with God Anthony, explaining the communication failure. She wanted me to tell you to contact her once you’re back," the Vampire conveyed in a polite, steady tone.
"You may leave," Tiara dismissed him right as he finished. With those words, the Vampire blurred away in an instant, his form vanishing as quickly as it had shown up.
Tiara promptly retrieved her phone from her space ring, revealing dozens of messages from the Blood Queen. She hadn’t noticed them before, nor had her phone been reachable, purely because they’d been out in space.
Her device wasn’t equipped for seamless calls over such immense distances; only Apexus Mana Rankers owned those, given their frequent space travels.
As Tiara scanned the messages, Rider’s voice pierced the quiet. "What do the messages say?" he inquired, even though all could surmise the Blood Queen sought Tiara over Drake Bloodmoon.
"It’s just like my bodyguard relayed—I need to call her," Tiara answered, since every message from Elara Bloodmoon boiled down to two simple words: Call me. No extras, no elaborations.
Without delay, Tiara hit the call button. The instant it rang, Elara Bloodmoon picked up, as if she’d been clutching the phone nonstop, eagerly awaiting.
Before Tiara uttered a word, Elara Bloodmoon’s voice rang out from the speaker. "Hand the phone to Anthony," she ordered curtly, her tone stripped of all excess feeling.
Before Tiara passed it over, Anthony interjected, "Just switch it to loudspeaker."
Tiara nodded at once and activated the speaker without pause.
"You may speak, Blood Queen; I’m all ears," Anthony said evenly, his face showing no shift.
"I require a favor, Null Anthony," Elara Bloodmoon’s voice transmitted through the phone. Though Anthony could already anticipate the favor, her delivery stayed utterly serene, betraying no grief over losing her sole child and son.
"A favor, is it?" Anthony remarked, but the Blood Queen held her silence at first, letting her request hang heavy in the air.
"Tell me what you need; I’ll weigh it once I know," Anthony continued calmly and deliberately.
Elara Bloodmoon didn’t respond right away. After moments of quiet, she finally said, "I can’t discuss it over the phone. You must come to the Vampire Domain to grasp the favor I seek, for such matters can’t be voiced openly," she explained, striving to keep her poise.
"Understood. I’ll head there," Anthony agreed promptly, his choice swift.
"Thank you," Elara Bloodmoon uttered before cutting the call abruptly.
Tiara’s phone disappeared back into her space ring. No one there was foolish; all grasped precisely what the Blood Queen desired. She’d reached out to Anthony via Tiara because they traveled as one. The favor? Anthony aiding in resurrecting her son, Drake Bloodmoon.
All had witnessed Anthony revive millions from death; doubting his ability to restore one additional soul was pointless.
"Honestly, I didn’t think this far," Anthony admitted with a touch of amusement in his tone, since the Blood Queen reaching out right after Drake’s demise had taken him by surprise.
Had Drake met a typical end, the Blood Queen could have potentially revived him through their Blood Rituals or any artifacts and methods the Vampires commanded. Yet the Authority of Severance had made every such attempt worthless and entirely pointless.
In other words, the Blood Queen had exhausted all her abilities without success, forcing her to turn to Anthony as her final choice.
"It seems you are in a bind," Bryan remarked with a sigh, giving his head a slight shake.
Should Anthony revive Drake, wouldn’t Tiara’s agony merely drag on as if nothing had changed?
"You shouldn’t have accepted heading to the Vampire Domain," Rider chimed in, holding Anthony’s gaze steadily with a grave look on his face.
"Well, I think Anthony can just use the engagement annulment as the price the Blood Queen has to pay to resurrect her son," Bringer suggested with a casual shrug, viewing it as the fairest and most sensible resolution.
Tiara, Bryan, and Rider all nodded in unison, impressed by the logical and clever proposal.
Anthony chuckled softly at their remarks. Shaking his head, he said, "I think you guys are forgetting something."
The group sank into contemplation, puzzling over just what they might have missed.
"What is that?" Tiara questioned, lacking the patience to deliberate like the others when her very life dangled in peril.
A faint smile crossed Anthony’s lips as he replied, "You seem to forget that I could just refuse her request. After all, what can the Blood Queen possibly give me that I don’t already have?" he added plainly, as if it were the most straightforward path imaginable.
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